LSU receives $1M to explore new energy source

A group of LSU researchers conducting research to harvest heat from geothermal reservoirs and generate electricity have received a $997,333 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for their project, “Zero Mass Withdrawal, Engineered Convection, and Wellbore Energy Conversion.” The research team includes associate professor Christopher White and assistant professor Mayank Tyagi, both of the LSU Craft and Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering and the Center for Computation & Technology, among other scientists. Their proposed method couples forced convection—the movement of molecules within fluids—through long, near-horizontal wellbores with free convection arising from natural geothermal gradients. Compared to conventional geothermal development strategies, engineered convection improves thermal recovery efficiency and delays thermal breakthrough of heat-depleted geofluid at the heat extraction point. Computer simulations indicate that the engineered convection strategy could be effective for the saline aquifer temperatures, thicknesses, extents, permeabilities, and dips that are common in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. The strategy could provide robust, modular power, with individual wells contributing hundreds of kilowatts—up to megawatts—in net electric power. This could add up to a regional capacity of tens of gigawatts by the year 2050. Read more about the research project at the LSU CCT website here.